Location Info

Map

All film festivals are inherently Jewish, since Jews invented Hollywood, the studio system, the indie film movement, the modern summer blockbuster, and, what the hell, American pop culture in general. But they're not as Jewish as the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival. Check it out: This is, according to the website marquee, 44 screenings of 33 films in six theaters over ten days. (Some promo material refers to this as "the largest film festival in Florida," which it isn't, not by a lot -- but still, it's big!) Wednesday, you've got The Boys of Terezin -- a documentary about a Seattle boy's choir rehearsing an oratorio about another group of boys, roughly their own age, who lived and played and wrote in the Terezin Concentration camp 70 years ago. (The film's premiere will be attended by one of the surviving boys, Sidney Taussig, who preserved his comrades' writings in the camp.) It starts at 7 p.m., costs $4 to $10, and plays at the Cohen Pavilion at Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach). There's Life Is Too Long, about a "Woody Allen-type nebbish" who's "grappling with a mid-life crisis." There's Standing Silent, about sexual abuse among Orthodox rabbis. There're lots of movies. Bright, dark, funny, somber, documentarian, wistful. All very Jewish. Many very good. For admission to all the films, you can pay $90, or you can purchase individual tickets atpalmbeachjewishfilm.org. As mentioned, the festival plays out in six different theaters; check the website for addresses.
Wed., Dec. 7, 7 p.m., 2011